Tidal variations in the cable voltage across the Korea Strait

Cable voltage was measured simultaneously at Hamada, Japan and Pusan, Korea, using an inservice telephone cable from March to December 1990. The spectral and harmonic analyses of these data sets show that tidal signals are dominant, and that tidal constituents $M_2$ and $O_1$, which are not affected by solar geomagnetic variations, have almost the same amplitude and are of opposite phase to each other. comparing the voltage difference in 1990 with that measured using the now abandoned cable in 1998, there are dominant tidal signals at the same periods in both data sets. They have approximately the same amplitude and phase for $M_2andO_1$. The relationship between the observed voltage and the volume transport through the Korea Strait can be considered robust and stable over time. The conversion factor from voltage to transport is estimated to be $11.9{\times}10^6m^3S^{-1}volt^{-1}$ by comparing the amplitude of model-derived $M_2$ tidal transport with that of the voltage difference in 1998. This value changes to $8.6{\times}10^6m^3S^{-1}volt^{-1}$ when taking into consideration the horizontal electric current effect. This effect depends on the downstream length scale of the flow. To obtain a more reliable and stable conversion factor from voltage to transport, the voltage should be compared with observed sub-tidal transports, which may have long downstream length scales.